


The Map

by CloudAtlas, Crazy4Orcas



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Be Compromised Promptathon, Community: be_compromised, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 12:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2228652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudAtlas/pseuds/CloudAtlas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy4Orcas/pseuds/Crazy4Orcas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the prompt:  You know how people have pinboard or sticker maps with all the places they've been marked with coloured pins? And maybe places they want to go? Clint and Natasha have a map, which started out as a joke and was on the wall of Coulson's office or a SHIELD break room, but has migrated to the Avenger's Tower or elsewhere... Anyway, they have this map. With all the places they've been shot, stabbed, fallen from high places, fake married someone, fake married each other, been arrested, broken out of jail, been banned by that country's government, been banned from going to again by Fury...</p><p>Insert amusing conversations and/or incidents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Map

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inkvoices](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkvoices/gifts).



> Endless thanks go to [SneakyHufflepuff](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SneakyHufflepuff/pseuds/SneakyHufflepuff) and [Shenshen77](http://archiveofourown.org/users/shenshen77/pseuds/shenshen77) for the beta, you guys both rock!
> 
> This takes place in some flexible post-Avengers timeline and is not Marvel Phase 2 compliant.

The map was SHIELD legend.  It had first hung in Coulson’s office; nondescript, no ornamentation or stylized writing, just an ordinary world map.  And then one day Coulson noticed a dozen or so colored pins adorning his previously unblemished map.  Over time the pins grew in number and color.  All Coulson could glean from the placing of pins was that each marked city was the location of a Strike Team Delta mission or a solo mission of either Barton’s or Romanoff’s.  Eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he brought in Agent Hill to see if she could provide any insight.  Together they were able to determine that at least some of the pins had to do with injuries sustained on mission, but the color coding remained a mystery.

He wasn’t above using bribery to gain information about the map.  For the price of a case of extremely expensive vodka, he was given ‘stitches’ as an event.  Approval for SHIELD Research and Development to proceed with several new arrowhead designs got him ‘fell out of the perch.’  ‘Hot-wired a get-away car’ cost him two weeks of SHIELD funded off-grid vacation for Strike Team Delta.  And his biggest payout, longer mission report deadlines, earned him ‘fake-out make-out.’  He had four events, but not their corresponding color.  Of course, he also wasn’t above letting Maria know that Clint and Natasha were open to bribery.  She was able to gain them another two events.

Rumors about the map spread throughout SHIELD Headquarters.  It became the focus of the largest betting pool in SHIELD history with dozens of different categories.  Eventually the original map wore out.  Some countries became so overpopulated with pins that what started as a single poster sized map grew to become half a dozen oversized regional maps that took up most of his wall.  And after the incident in ’09, the pins were replaced with dots from colored markers.  At Coulson’s last count there were thirty-four unique colors, some used several dozen times, others used only once or twice.

\-----

No one was sure how it happened, but one morning the maps turned up at Avenger’s Tower gracing a wall in the team’s conference room.  Bruce sipped his herbal tea and studied the map of Eastern Europe.  “Why are there nine different colored dots in Budapest?”

Clint and Natasha shared a quick look.  At Natasha’s slight nod Clint replied, "Arrested, shot, stabbed, fake-married each other, broken bones, had sex, and three others. And, no, we're not telling which color is which."

Natasha added, “We’re only telling you this because you’ve patched us up so many times.  Don’t expect any more information so easily.”

\-----

“What’s that one?” Pepper asked, pointing at one of the many dots over Dar es Salaam. This one was a funny yellow-green colour, that didn’t occur anywhere else on the map.

“We don’t,” said Natasha forcefully, “talk about Dar es Salaam.”

\-----

“So what’s blue then?” Bruce asked one day.

“You know that’s not how this works,” Natasha replied over her cup of tea. “We’re not going to tell you. You have to work it out or offer us a substantial bribe.”

“But what can happen to you in Tibet, off the cost of Chile, Washington State, North Korea and Morocco? And then not anywhere else?”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Work it out. But scouring SHIELD files online is cheating.”

Bruce scoffed. “Please, I’m not Tony. I’m going to figure this out the old fashioned way.”

\-----

“No, Nat, we don’t need to keep count.”

“Clint, which one of us wanted to track ‘Nat’s thigh holds?’ ”

“Fine.  What color do you want to use for ‘Clint gets tied up?’ “

\-----

“So,” Tony said, smirk firmly in place as he joined them in the conference room several days later, “Bruce tells me you two can be bought.  What’s the going price for information about the map?”

Natasha studied him carefully before replying, “A kilo of Almas caviar and a bottle of Macallan 1926.  You get one color code of our choosing and you keep it to yourself.”

“Done.”

“Pink,” Natasha started but was interrupted when Clint choked on his coffee.

“Don’t tell him pink!”

“I’m not getting into specifics, just the general category.”  Natasha’s smile was absolutely wicked, “You know it’ll drive him crazy.”  Clint grinned back.

Tony had quickly moved to study the map and locate the pink dots.  “But there are only four pink dots.”

“You agreed to one color of our choosing.”

“Fine, fine, you mercenary.”

“Pink is coded for sex related injuries.”

This time it was Tony who choked on his coffee.  Two weeks later when a pink dot showed up over New York City, Tony almost had a coronary keeping quiet about the code.

\-----

“OK, will you at least narrow it down for me? Is it an injury or one of those ‘fun’ ones you like teasing Tony with?”

“Is what what?” replied Clint, who was lying on the couch throwing darts at the ceiling. The darts made a smiley face. It was kinda impressive really. Bruce idly wondered what kind of force Clint could release without any wind up from his shoulders, before he focused his attention on the task at hand.

“The blue dots.”

“Just cos I’m not the spy in this outfit doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to slip up and start telling you things,” Clint said, sounding amused. “You’re a clever guy. Work it out.”

\-----

“It’s not one of the fun ones,” Bruce said over dinner three days later.

“Congratulations,” Natasha said. “You’re correct.”

“How did you work that one out then?” Clint asked, passing the beans to Pepper.

“One happens off the coast of Chile.”

Darcy snorted into her lasagna. “Hell, I’m not a genius and even I would have told you that if it happens off the coast of Chile it ain’t going to be fun.”

\-----

It was shortly after Fury left one evening that they noticed an addition to the maps.  Half a dozen tiny, black eye patches had been added in amongst the colored dots.

Steve looked curiously at the small marks and asked, “Any idea what they mean?”

Natasha stood beside him and pointedly did not look at Clint.  “There have been a few … developments that have resulted in Fury restricting our access to certain areas.”

Bruce chuckled as he studied the map of the South Pacific, “Fury has banned you guys from Australia?”

Clint looked down at his feet and rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable.  “Not from the entire country, just a smallish area in Central Australia.”

“What happened?”  Steve and Bruce asked at the same time.

Clint crossed his arms over his chest and kept his mouth shut, but Natasha answered for him, “Nothing was ever confirmed, but there may have been an incident involving an archer, a camel, a kangaroo, and untested boomerang arrows.”  It was obvious she was trying to keep a straight face.  She wasn’t having much success.

Bruce covered his mouth with his hand, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.  Steve just shook his head and rolled his eyes as he asked, “Boomerang arrows?  Why?”

“Because … boomerangs,” Clint replied.

\-----

 “You’re aware there are regulations against this sort of activity, Agent Nelson?”

“Uh, yes … yes, sir, Director Fury … sir.”

“Good.  Then you understand the importance of discretion with regard to what I’m about to tell you.”

“Yes sir, absolutely sir.”

“Excellent.  Fifty dollars on red denoting jailbreak.”

\-----

Clint and Natasha returned from their latest SHIELD mission only slightly worse for wear.  They both had very minor burns, singed hair, and Clint was limping, but neither seemed to be seriously injured.

Several days later the newest map marks appeared on an island in the Norwegian Sea.  There were three marks of familiar colors, and one gold dot.  It was the first time gold had been used and it sparked an intense debate until the assassins joined their teammates for dinner that evening.

“So,” Tony pounced as soon as they entered the room.  “First time for gold.  You have to tell us about it.”

Natasha ignored him as she sat down and sipped at her wine.  Clint sat next to her and looked each of his team in the eye.  He came to some silent conclusion and said, “You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.”

There was a general uproar of denial among the others while Natasha filled her plate and began eating her meal.  Clint served himself and finally gave in just so the others would quiet down.  “Fine,” he said.  “It was dragons.”  And he calmly went back to his food.

Three identical, disbelieving gazes watched them.  Thor simply nodded and started in on his dinner.

\-----

“Mad scientist makes giant monster.”

Natasha looked amused. “No. And how many mad scientists do you know in Washington State?”

“You’d be surprised,” Bruce muttered. “Clint’s electrical arrow malfunctions and he’s electrocuted.”

“No,” Clint said shortly from where he was lounging on the couch, shamelessly eavesdropping.

“That’s a different colour,” Natasha supplied.

\-----

“Uniform malfunction?  How is ‘uniform malfunction’ worthy of its own category?”

“It’s classified, Stark.”

“Please tell me it was Natasha, and that there’s video footage.”

\-----

Pepper found Natasha in front of the map of Central America, a dark red marker clutched in her hand.  She appeared lost in thought and, to Pepper’s eye, a little anguished.  “I heard Clint came home today.  How’s he doing?”

Natasha turned to her and Pepper could see the younger woman pull herself together.  “Much better, we got lucky.  I convinced him to take some painkillers, he’s sleeping.”  Her smile was a little forced and Pepper reached out to squeeze Natasha’s hand.

“And how are you doing?”

“I’m fine now,” she said.  “I just thought I’d …” she trailed off and waved the marker at the map.

Pepper did a quick study and found several dark red marks all over the world.  “Whatever that is seems to be a frequent occurrence.”

“Too frequent,” Natasha agreed.  “And it never gets any easier.”  She uncapped the marker and placed a dot over Managua, where it joined marks in orange, green, and yellow.

Pepper had heard about Clint’s injuries and while they were fairly serious, he’d been hurt worse before.  “What’s wrong Natasha?  Clint’s going to be fine, what else happened?” she asked gently.

“He took that bullet for me.”

\-----

Bruce decided to try a different approach. Tibet, the Pacific, Washington State, North Korea, Morocco. Northern hemisphere, apart from the Chilean coast. Land, apart from the Chilean coast. The Chilean coast was really throwing him.

Developing nation? Not Washington State.

Contested territory? Maybe. Depended on where in the Pacific and… actually, no. Not Washington State, unless there was some dumb territory feud there that he’d not heard of.

Cold? Morocco wasn’t cold.

‘Hmm…’ he thought to himself, ‘You’d have a tough time drowning in Morocco. Clint and Natasha break bones too often for it to be that. Ditto shot, ditto… most injuries. Food poisoning? Hard to eat in the Pacific Ocean. Ooh! Water borne diseases!’

“Dysentery!” Bruce exclaimed.

“What?” Tony said. “You’ve not got it have you? Because if you do we’re going to have to talk about quarantine again. You know how I don’t like quarantine.”

“No Tony,” Bruce said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t have dysentery. I’m taking about the blue dots.”

“No,” came Natasha’s voice from behind them, making them jump.

Bruce worked harder. He looked up climate data; looked into the area’s history to see when Clint or Natasha might have been there and why, peered at the map to see if he could tell where – exactly – the dots were marking.

He worked on it for a week straight. Tony got pretty pissed because he needed help on the matter destabilizer, but Bruce maintained that a matter destabilizer was a terrible idea and ignored him.

\-----

“Damn, Clint.  Are you okay?  That eye looks terrible.”

“It’s fine, just a little mishap with a new arrowhead.”

“Let me guess, ‘experimental arrow gone wrong’ is a map category.”

“It’s a possibility.”

\-----

“Hypothermia!” Bruce exclaimed, making Pepper jump in her seat. Natasha, however, made no visible movement.

“You have hypothermia?” she asked evenly. “Should I be worried?”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “No, I do not have hypothermia. The blue dots! The blue dots show when one or both of you got hypothermia.”

“Morocco isn’t all that cold,” she said.

“Yes, but it has the Atlas Mountains.”

Natasha didn’t move, and Bruce felt his certainty waver.

“Bingo!”

Bruce jumped a foot in the air as Clint’s voice came from right by his ear. Bruce hadn’t even heard him walk up.

“We have a winner! Give the man a prize!”

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” Clint said grinning.

“Do I actually get a prize?”

“Well,” said Natasha, getting gracefully to her feet. “You get to hold it over Tony, so I’d say that’s a prize.”

Bruce thought about that for a second before shrugging.  “I’ll take it.”

\-----

Over time he compiled and analyzed the data he was able to collect from various sources.  He had access to mission files, medical reports, world-wide news stories, civilian accounts and video footage.  He had overheard conversations in both Avenger’s Tower and SHIELD Headquarters.

The puzzle of Agents Barton and Romanoff’s maps had intrigued him since they first arranged the charts on the conference room wall.  He spent a great deal of time working out and discarding various theories as to the classification and color coding system of the events displayed on the maps.  It took years until he eventually unlocked the solution.

But JARVIS wasn’t telling.

**Author's Note:**

> October 3, 2014 This has now been translated into Chinese, you can find that version here: [【翻译】The Map](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2396048) .


End file.
